Everton: There's only one reason Toffees should be interested in Wayne Rooney

Wayne Rooney’s future has been a topic of conversation recently, with Everton often being linked. But why would the Toffees even be interested in the striker?

Everton is always brought up whenever the future of Wayne Rooney is discussed. Lately, Rooney’s future has been prominent in the headlines. Now Everton boss Ronald Koeman has said that the striker would be welcome back at Goodison Park, during an exclusive interview with Sky Sports.

Koeman goes on to say that he feels that Rooney is still performing at a high level, and that he made a good decision to stay at Manchester United and in the Premier League. The Everton boss also stated that Rooney is a player that would make Everton better and that those players are always welcome at the club.

Now, does Wayne Rooney make Everton better as a whole? Of course. When you look at the bigger picture, Rooney being in the Everton squad is a boost. But narrow it down to the starting XI instead. Look at the first team picture.

Would Rooney’s arrival benefit the first XI? Recently, Koeman has settled on a 4-3-3 formation, with Romelu Lukaku being the lone striker, supported by Ross Barkley and Ademola Lookman in the wide roles.

There’s only one position of a front three that you ideally want Rooney playing in, and that’s the central striker role. So does Rooney play ahead of Lukaku? No. Not now. So, then, the Englishman would have to play out wide. Shoehorn him in.

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However, Barkley is a player now finally finding some confidence and form. Something Everton fans have been waiting years for. Whilst Lookman is a young player developing and finding his way in the Toffees first team.

If playing Rooney wide is not ideal anyway, then playing Rooney wide and stifling younger players is even less so. So why even make the signing? Does Koeman change the formation to make it work? Again, we’re just shoehorning Rooney in now any way possible. Change this. Change that.

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Why risk upsetting the form of Barkley? Stunting the development of Lookman? Rooney is a blast from Everton’s past. Now, though, it’s time to look forward to the future. Lukaku, Barkley and Lookman represent that future. For now, at least.

The one way Rooney should be of interest to Koeman and Everton is if Lukaku is lured away from the club. The Belgian has been in impressive form for a few years now and 17 Premier League goals already mean Lukaku is about to complete his best goalscoring season of his career.

Sooner or later, the big clubs are going to come knocking. But whether that is this summer or not is yet to be seen. If Lukaku was to leave this summer, then an experienced player like Rooney would be perfect to take his place. Then the signing makes sense.

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But with Lukaku still around, and other young players developing alongside him, Wayne Rooney to Everton doesn’t make a whole lot of sense right now. Just think of the transfer fee and wages, too. Rooney wouldn’t come cheap.

So if the striker was to arrive at Everton, then it should only really be if Lukaku was heading for the exit.

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Everton: There’s only one reason Toffees should be interested in Wayne Rooney

By Craig Pearson | Feb 28, 2017

Wayne Rooney’s future has been a topic of conversation recently, with Everton often being linked. But why would the Toffees even be interested in the striker?

More from The Top Flight